Veerleplein, entrance gate Gravensteen

Willie Verhegghe, 'Gravensteen, tombstone'

Strengthened residence of the counts of Flanders. First in wood, from 1180 a monumental stone castle (see the Latin inscription about Count Philip, above the gate). From the early 13th century, the entire outer courtyard (current Sint-Veerleplein) was thoroughly redesigned. All major official receptions and celebrations took place here (such as the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1445). The county mint was also housed here, and the higher court, the Council of Flanders, was seated in the Gravensteen. During the Austrian period, it was converted into an industrial complex with a metal workshop and cotton spinning mills. Since 2002, it also houses the Weapons Museum alongside the Justice Museum. A symbol of feudal oppression and torture methods during the Inquisition.

Willie Verhegghe (1947), a Flemish socially engaged poet, combines parlando style with a socially critical perspective. His earliest work, particularly "Flanders 1914-1918 Vietnam 1946-1973," stood out. In his poetry, he commemorates artistic brothers such as Raveel and Boon, mentally disabled individuals, and his young deceased son Miguel. He reviewed for De Morgen, Poëziekrant, and Ons Erfdeel. Since 1999, he has also been a novelist. His cycling poems enjoy wide recognition: Peyresourde, The Tour of Flanders, Riders Do Not Die. City poet of Ninove. Plastic design by the Belgian assemblage artist Camiel Van Breedam (1936).

Literair Gent